The Carbon-Based Evolutionary Theory (CBET)

Why and how did unordered, simple substances on Earth evolve into orderly, complex, and diverse organisms and social organizations? This is a fundamental scientific question that has captivated humans for millennia. Here we propose the Carbon-Based Evolutionary Theory (CBET) to provide novel, explicit, and relatively comprehensive answers to this question. The CBET identifies three key mechanisms based on some principles of classical physics and chemistry (e.g., laws of thermodynamics and organic chemistry) and some features of Earth and carbon-based materials (CBMs): the driving force mechanism, the structure-function mechanism, and the natural selection mechanism, which underpin the evolution of CBMs with energy, functions, and orderliness, respectively. These mechanisms are shared by the three phases of the evolution of CBMs: chemical evolution, biological evolution, and social evolution. They escalate the hierarchy of CBMs and augment the quantity, diversity, and orderliness of high-hierarchy CBMs. The CBET clarifies the natural roots of multiple pivotal and seemingly paradoxical social notions, such as inclusiveness versus elimination, collaboration versus competition, altruism versus selfishness, and freedom versus restriction. It advocates for the balanced, harmonious, and peaceful development of human society. The CBET unifies biology with physics and chemistry and could be a basic theory shared by the natural sciences and the social sciences. It could also be significant in the rational development of human society.